Boylston spoke about her Idaho home with almost palpable delight—especially when she talked about achieving her dream project: bringing a special-commissioned world premiere ballet to Sun Valley.

Does your family call you Bella?

My full name is Hildur Isabella Boylston.

Excuse me? Does anyone call you Hildur?

My parents, my brother and even my husband. I was named after an Icelandic great-grandmother. When I joined ABT, they strongly urged me to start going by my middle name.

I understand you were on skis from the moment you could walk.

My dad was a drummer and basically a ski bum. My parents even met on a ski lift. Skiing was a big part of our life.

It sounds a bit like a Lifetime television movie, but you grew up living in a trailer, right?

It's true. Just south of Ketchum in the Meadows Trailer Park. I just went back there to take a look and it looks a lot nicer than I remember. It's been upgraded.

Talk to me about being a prima ballerina on dance's grandest stage. Do you embrace all of that?

As soon as I knew what the American Ballet Theatre was, I was laser-focused on achieving that goal. But sometimes, I just can't believe I got here. I wanted it for so long and worked so hard to get here.

Being a principal dancer with ABT means you're also in the harsh glare of the New York media, which can give glowing reviews one moment and rather harsh criticism the next.

Exactly. I have colleagues who are more disciplined than me and they don't read any of their reviews. I just think it's hard to avoid. I take it with a grain of salt and, occasionally, you can learn from it.

Let's talk about your vision of bringing some of the finest dancers in the world to the Sun Valley Pavilion.

First, I needed an executive producer. That's Bob Smelick. Then, a chair of the sponsors committee. That's Dan Drackett. They're both from Sun Valley and had previously brought the San Francisco Ballet to Sun Valley.

It's my understanding the performance will have video elements and an original score.